At the D.C. premiere of “Veep,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ new HBO show about a vice-president and her staff, the actors divulged tidbits of the mostly off-the-record research they conducted for their roles as political staffers.
Matt Walsh revealed that one of his character’s plotlines was inspired by a staffer’s antics. “There was a story about a guy who had a fake dog, just so he had an excuse to go home,” he said. “He created this whole fiction that, oh I can’t stay late because I have a dog.” The mysterious work shirker? “Someone a guy knew in the office,” Walsh answered cryptically.
Louis-Dreyfus said she talked to “a bunch of vice-presidents,” plus chiefs of staff, staffers and bodymen to prepare for her role as second in command. She wouldn’t reveal which politicos she talked to — “my only agenda was not to make it specifically partisan,” she said of the show — but Al Gore has been out outed as one of the sources. Show executive producer Armando Iannucci said he hoped it rang true to the former vice-president. “I hope he doesn’t think it’s all based on him,” he added.
The show does nail many aspects of political stafferdom, from the constant BlackBerrying to the sad suits. Tony Hale said that the cast got tours of the White House and the Eisenhower Building to get a sense of scene, and he marveled at the dumpiness of Washington interiors. “You have these gorgeous buildings, and then inside it’s like crappy furniture, things don’t match, computers are way outdated,” the actor said. He called the staffers he saw “very hard workers, but when it came to décor, it wasn’t really their strong suit.”
